It’s been a while since I last did a book recommendation post and that’s partly because I seem to be reading less books and reading more online.

Anyway, on the way back from GDC last week I picked up What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell. I’ve read his other excellent books and this one doesn’t disappoint. It’s a collection of various articles from the New Yorker and they are fascinating reading covering a wide range of topics such as: how the birth control pill was affected by its inventor’s religious beliefs, why fixing homelessness may costs less than managing it, plagarism, The Dog Whisperer, and why the Challenger disaster is no one’s fault, plus a bunch of other really interesting ideas. Well worth checking out.

I’ve also been slowly reading The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life. It starts off going into the history of Game Theory and explaining some “basic” concepts (although I still had to concentrate to understand them), and then going into the applications of game theory in everyday life. It’s a pretty interesting book and I’ve already used some of the techniques in business negotiations.

Finally, on the way to GDC in San Francisco from Vancouver I had enough to time to quickly read Coraline by Neil Gaiman. It was a good little story that I think is supposed to be for kids although it would probably scare the crap out of them. If you’ve never read Neil Gaman’s American Gods: A Novel then I seriously suggest you do so, it’s a fantastic book. Years ago my girlfriend (now wife) suggested I read The Sandman series of graphic novels, and after reading the first one I bought all the rest because they were like nothing I’d read before. Gaiman is a fantastic storyteller; he seems to bring some of his English heritage, steeped in history, legend and fairy tales, into his writing in a way that greatly appeals to me.

Enjoy!

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on Sunday, March 13th, 2011 at 1:30 amand is filed under Book Recommendations.
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